SportsNation Blog Archives Houston Cougars

The new American Athletic Conference isn't widely represented in the preseason coaches' Top 25; only defending Big East champion Louisville made the list (albeit at No. 9). Are the Cardinals the clear favorites in the AAC? How do their challengers stack up? Click on the boxes below to set your rankings!

University of Houston quarterback Case Keenun broke former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell's NCAA record for career touchdown passes early in the second half of a 73-34 win against Rice on Thursday night. By the time it was over, Keenum came close to the single-game record, finishing with nine touchdown passes against the Owls.

"The kid had a great game. However, it was against a team that has a D that is worse than the Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins! What I don't understand is here we have Houston that is 8-0 and 4-0 in C-USA conference play. They are ranked No. 17, while Boise St. is ranked in the top 5 and doesn't come close to playing the type of team Houston plays!" -- SN commenter wallab50

"Keenum is out to set records. Rice was just another team for him to build stats on. If Rice wants to complain, then how about they do better than pleading with Keenum to throw touchdowns? The coverage during that game was just miserable." -- SN commenter BlackfangLeopard

Case Keenum or Kellen Moore?

Boise State's Kellen Moore needs one more win to have one major record all to himself, but is Keenum's newest record the gold standard of college quarterbacking?

Will Keenum get a trip to New York?

Keenum received just three fifth-place votes in ESPN.com's Heisman Watch this week, but that was before the huge night against Rice.

A record marred by poor sportsmanship?

Keenum's ninth touchdown pass came with a 32-point lead in the fourth quarter. It was a short pass that Patrick Edwards ran with, but was it running up the score?

Should the BCS come calling?

The Cougars are the undefeated team few are talking about in the BCS picture. They beat UCLA, North Texas, Louisiana Tech and Georgia State out of conference.

A lot of college football fans will tell you their two favorite teams are their team and whoever plays their rival that Saturday. But it sure feels like Boise State is gaining ground on the latter part of that equation.

There are a lot of things working in Boise State's favor as it builds a nationwide network of fans. The Broncos play at least five games on ESPN or ESPN2 this season, all on weekday nights when college football fans are craving something to tide them over until Saturday. And since it's safe to say the BCS isn't America's most popular institution, it only makes sense to support the team whose diverse playbook has helped poke holes in the system's flaws. Plus, let's be honest, who doesn't love them some blue turf?

So as long as they aren't playing your team, is Boise State America's team?

Brian (Greensboro)

Ivan, pretend that Boise State is any BCS conference this year...where do you rank them? Is it still third (AP), fifth (Coaches) or something else?

Ivan Maisel

I understand your point. But Boise State has won two Fiesta Bowls in the last four years. They have 20-plus starters returning from an undefeated team. I don't think anyone need apologize for ranking the Broncos high. And if they lose, we'll be wrong and we'll all move on. Full transcript

Jeremy (Corvallis)

How do you think Boise would do in the PAC-10? It's much easier to get up for 1 (max. 2) games per year, compared to having to show up every week (except against Wazzu).

Pac-10 blogger Ted Miller

Hard to say: Boise is a good team, and it is particularly good at preparing for big games. But as you say, playing a quality foe just about every week is something the Broncos have not done. I do think this year's Boise State team would finish in the top-third of the Pac-10, perhaps even win the conference. Full transcript

It won't be an easy weekend for BCS Cinderellas, even though they're all playing at home. Cincinnati faces No. 25 West Virginia, TCU gets the pressure of GameDay and No. 16 Utah, and Boise State deals with a surprising 7-3 Idaho (and a visiting AD who doesn't like to fly on planes with Broncos markings).